Name war ends, as 'Mumbai Metro' logo revealed

By Ranjeet Jadhav |Posted 01-May-2014

Dust settles on the war of words between MMRDA and Reliance Infra over what to call the city's much-awaited Metro

Those scowling that the city’s first Metro will bear a corporate’s insignia may ease into a smile. The Metro banners will sport ‘Mumbai Metro’ more prominently as part of the rail logo, than the names of Reliance Infrastructure or Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), whose joint venture the rail is.

The new logo will be seen at all stations on the VAG Metro line

In a press briefing held at the Azad Nagar Metro car depot in Andheri (West), the Reliance-led Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL) showcased the new logo that will be displayed on the banners at all stations on the 11.04-km Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar (VAG) Metro rail corridor.

The logo design had been a sore point between the MMRDA and MMOPL for over a year. There was widespread opposition to trains and stations bearing ‘Reliance Metro’ logo, especially from political parties Shiv Sena and the Republican Party Of India (Athawale).

A minister from the ruling Congress-NCP combine in the state had even declared during the inauguration of the Wadala-Chembur Monorail that the Metro would be called Mumbai Metro no matter what, and that the authorities concerned should change the logo at the earliest.

On April 6, mid-day had reported (‘Now, Mumbai Metro hits logo hurdle’) how days away from inauguration, Metro stations and trains continued to sport the ‘Reliance Metro’ logo, with MMOPL officials saying that MMRDA was still to give them the new logo. Now that the issue has been resolved, the Mumbai Metro will be called just that.

Modern real-time surveillance on MetroThe Metro boasts of a world-class security system. CCTV cameras and radio sets have been set up in trains and stations.

They will be hooked up to a central control room (CCR), where officials on duty will get a live feed straight from the trains and platforms to help them keep a tab on passenger and train movements, illegal or anti-social activities such as harassment, vandalism etc, and emergency situations like fire.

“For security of commuters, Mumbai Metro has installed the world’s most advanced video transmission system VTS Firetide 7010 inside its train. This will be the only Metro in the country that will have such advanced safety technology,” said an MMOPL official.

Emergency clickThere’s a button inside each coach upon pressing which passengers can directly communicate with the train pilot in case of an emergency.

Fare unfairThe MMOPL may revise ticket fares of the VAG Metro rail upwards of the slab fixed earlier by the state government. When the government had decided to keep fares between R9-13, the decision was based on the 2004 tariff for BEST buses.

But at the press briefing yesterday, MMOPL hinted at a rise in ticket prices, even though the ministry of urban development has earlier stated that MMOPL cannot hike the initial fares, which are governed by the first provision to Section 33 of the Metro Railways (O&M) Act, 2002.

MMOPL CEO Abhay Mishra said, "We shall advise you as soon as the fares are fixed by the Metro railway administration. Fare fixation shall be undertaken as per the provisions laid down in the Central Metro Act and the extant practice which are followed for fixation of fare by other Metros."